Backfire
by psykostevey999
Summary: When Conan tries his best to send Heiji and Kazuha into a cataclysmic war of emotions, he finds that the outcome isn't as destructive as he may have hoped.


_The two from Osaka, in accordance with what had recently become their monthly ritual, arrived at the Mouri Detective Agency. They visited mostly because Kazuha felt the need to fill Ran in on every miniscule detail of her life, for better or worse. Of course, in return she expected every bit as much detail from her counterpart. Needless to say, these visits usually lasted a few days and usually left Conan and Heiji to amuse themselves. They accomplished this through one of two methods; either a case would come up or Heiji would tease Conan incessantly about everything from height, to his glasses, to his beyond obvious affection toward Ran. For the most part, when the latter came about, Conan, or Kudo to Heiji, was able to effectively maintain his composure. However, on this particular day, he was not so patient with his western friend._

"Oi Conan, go get me a glass of water!" Heiji demanded, making this request with little thought of thirst.

"Go get it yourself you la-" just then he was cut off by a seemingly irritated Ran,

"Conan! Don't be rude, he's a guest; now go get him some water!" He reluctantly marched to the kitchen, much to the delight of his "guest" that was trying not break out into hysteric laughter.

"Here." Conan said sharply, making a point to glare at him with as much spite as an eight-year old could muster. He then sat down on the couch next to Heiji in silence as he gulped down the water that looked as though it tasted like pure satisfaction. After he had finished the water he handed Conan the glass and motioned toward the kitchen,

"Thanks four eyes. Now get me a refill would ya?" At this point Heiji was pushing his friend sheerly out of curiosity. He couldn't help but feel a certain degree of fear as he watched the shrunken detective stomp back to the kitchen. This was no idiot he was dealing with, what if he chose to seek revenge? What was he capable of? What if he….no, there no way he sink that low….there's no way he would bring Kazuha into this….or….would he?

Following this foreboding thought, Ran stood up and declared she had to run get some groceries for dinner, and asked Kazuha to wait there with Heiji and Conan, because

"God only knows what sort of misadventures they would get into if we left them alone"

Kazuha smiled in agreement,

"After all, the last thing Conan needs is alone time with that Aho!"

Heiji of course caught that last little remark, to which he responded bluntly

"Oi, who are you calling Aho! AHO!"

At that exact moment his pricked up as he heard the most unwanted words he could comprehend,

"Kazuha-neechan! Kazuha-neechan can you help me with this, I can't reach the sink!"

From the corner of his eye, Heiji saw a very ferocious, very mischievous little boy standing with a glass in his hand and a gleam in his eye that screamed "Vengeance!". Heiji stood up abruptly, cutting the "neechan" in question off,

"No no no, it's ok, I'll go help him!" and he sprinted to the kitchen to her surprise. Once there, he knelt down beside the eerily over-confident child and whispered

"Oi Kudo, what are you planning? Whatever it is, don't. I'm sorry okay I was just having a little fun you don't have to get angry over it okay? Okay?" his tone had gone from apologetic to threatening.

"Okay Heiji-neechan, I will tell her for you!" Conan of course said this back practically at the top of his lungs so as to make sure it got Kazuha's attention. He then started to strut over to her, turned back to Heiji, tilted his glasses a little and smiled wide enough to touch both ears. But this wasn't the smile a child makes when opening a gift. This was instead the smile Ran makes before kicking an opponent square in the temple with all the force of a wrecking ball. Heiji was deeply distraught by this not-so-little gesture of impending doom. It seemed as though his fate was sealed and he was now going to witness the destructive force of his very young adversary.

"What is it Conan-kun" Kazuha asked, with a certain degree of noticeable curiosity.

"It's a secret so I have to whisper it in your ear. Heiji-neechan said it was really important"

Conan then proceeded to whisper what seemed like a novel into her ear. Her expression slowly changed from curiosity, to shock, and then to nothing but crimson red embarrassment. Heiji had seen this face before, he thought back to one of the times Kudo regained his teenage form. He remembered Kudo telling his girlfriend a certain something about having things to tell her, and the consistency of their queries. "Damnit all" he thought to himself, "if only I knew what they were talking about back then I might have a clue as to what I'm in for!"

Once Conan had finished his one-sided conversation, he hopped merrily off the couch where Kazuha was sitting and preceded to leave the room. Once he had left the two were left in complete silence, Heiji still kneeling on the floor in the kitchen with one eye out the doorway, looking at Kazuha but not her eyes. He had already concluded that eye contact at this point was not safe. Meanwhile, Kazuha that in utter shock and awe, evidently still mulling around what she had just heard. Heiji of course decided to break the silence in the only way he knew how,

"Aho! What did that little four-eyed kid say to you? Was it about me? Come on just tell me! Jeez you look so serious its li-" As he said this and began to walk forward toward her, he was cut off by the sound of her voice, nearly nonexistent and yet the loudest thing in the room,

"So I guess its not true then. Ha, I should have figured it was just an eight year old's idea of a joke". She let a single, painful tear fall down her cheek, which prompted Heiji to jump forward and thrust her against the couch by the shoulders, forcing their eyes to lock

"What did he say to you?" His voice was no longer sarcastic or angry, but serious. Deathly serious to an extent which she had only heard a few times in their entire friendship. She opened her mouth to speak but felt no air in her lungs that could be used to reciprocate the words that had been so thoroughly branded on her mind.

"Kazuha….tell me…."

She stared deep into the eyes of the man that stood before her. She had many times stared into those same eyes and wondered if he stared into hers the same way, with the same feelings. She wondered if there was ant point in telling him what she had heard, or whether she should just lie and give him the snide "Aho!" she knew would comfort him.

After watching her consider his request for what seemed like an eternity, it finally dawned on him what she had heard. All of the factors suddenly came rushing into a logical conclusion that his mind, for the first time in his young life, could comprehend. The truth washed over him in a wave of fear, apprehension, nervousness, joy. He now knew, but it for some reason, way down in the pit of his stomach, he felt as though it was not his place to imply, if she wanted to tell him, she would.

She had finally resolved to say it. It was about time that "Aho" knew the truth that she had so desperately wanted him to figure out for himself. She wanted it to be him that made the discovery, but alas, she had grown tired of waiting. So she built up what little courage she could gather and finally let out a few, carefully selected words in no more than a hush

"He….he said you loved my eyes"

He was speechless. This was not exactly what he had planned on hearing but he still wasn't surprised, just speechless. He wanted to say a thousand things at once: "Aho! What so great about em' they're just eyes!", " No! No way, you're like a sister to me why would I ever say or even think something like that!". But the most prominent response that kept replaying in his head was a single word. One word that, despite its complete truth and utter simplicity, he knew would change everything. He both embraced and feared the word. Once he said it, it could never be taken back, never undone, never.

"Yes…" he mumbled, almost secretly to himself

"Yes, I do. They're my favorite thing about you."

Both of them sat in complete silence. Throughout this whole standoff, they had not once left the other's gaze. Not once even strayed slightly from it. And that gaze which had caused so much tension now wrapped them both in an almost unnatural warmth. After a long pause, she moved to her feet, pushing Heiji up with her. They stood inches away from each other, and she muttered shyly,

"Really?" To which he calmly replied,

"Yes"

"Well….what about my hair?"

"Yes"

"And my body?"

"Yes"

He then wrapped his arms around her in a loving embrace, her forehead pressed to his shoulder and his arms around her waist. She returned the gesture by pulling her arms around his torso. As she did this she proceeded to meticulously name off every possible feature he could have noticed about her in question form. From the most prominent features to the smallest personality traits that only he knew about. And every single time, he answered yes.

After this went on for some time, she stopped talking and pushed herself off of his shoulder and looked into his eyes again.

"Heiji, I love you."

For some reason, despite the very intimate exchange they had just shared, this phrase still gave him goosebumps. Nevertheless, he gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead and responded,

"I love you too, Kazuha"

They stood quietly for some time after that, allowing the moment to sink in and surround them. They could have stood forever, until a small crack echoed through the apartment, abruptly diverting their attention. Ran had finished her shopping and now stood in the doorway flabbergasted by the sight in front of her. It was but moments after that Conan came sprinting down the stairs

"Ran-neechan you're home! What did you get for dinner?" Ran did not hear a word of what Conan said because she was fixated on the look in Kazuha's eyes; a look of complete relief and peace. They both smiled at one another and Ran continued into the kitchen, leaving the two to pry themselves apart. Kazuha of course ran into the kitchen and took up conversation with Ran, which left Conan and Heiji side by side in the living room.

"So Kudo, was this your little scheme from the beginning?"

"Sort of, I'll admit, I didn't think that it would go quite that well."

"Neither did I"

They took a moment to bask in what had just transpired

"Arigato, Kudo-kun"

As Conan walked back to his room, watching the three teenagers playfully converse while dinner was being prepared, he couldn't help but think, "For what?"

**A few days later ~**

As they walked to school together, hand in hand, something still perturbed the drak-skinned Osakan teenager.

"So what did that little runt tell you anyway? It seemed like a long time to just say 'I love your eyes' "

Kazuha looked up at the sky, then down at their interlocked fingers.

"Nothing. He just told me to look surprised and then make up something romantic and say it to him. Apparently he was mad about how you were bossing him around so he wanted to get you back. I guess it kind of back fired on him huh?"

She then leaned over to him and gave him a gentle peck on the cheek which caused a red hue to spread out all over his face. He chuckled to himself and they continued walking on as happy as they'd ever been.


End file.
